Unfortunately for me, I’rec is inside his hut, along with B’shit and A’tam. They hunch over one of Tia’s skins as B’shit points out words to them, her son asleep and drowsing with a cheek on B’shit’s shoulder. They look up when I enter.
A’tam eyes me curiously, a frown on his face. “You look as if you have run the entire length of the beach, brother. What ails you?”
I swallow hard, fighting the urge to rub my mouth, as if D’see has left some sort of mark upon me. Then again, why do I hide what I will do? What we will do? They will know soon enough that we are to be mated. Yet it feels a very private, fragile thing until we have truly mated, and I hesitate as I kick off my boots at the entrance.
But I’rec, the gossip, has already spread the news. He grins at me. “Did you and D’see decide to mate?”
I nod, my face hot. “I am moving into her hut.”
“You mean your hut,” I’rec corrects. He rolls up Tia’s skin carefully so as not to smudge the lines on it. “And good for you. There is no sense waiting if that is what you both want.”
“Wait…” A’tam looks confused. “You and D’see resonated?”
At his side, B’shit gasps, her hand going to her teats in surprise. “Oh wow. Really?” On her shoulder, A’bri stirs, his tail flicking, and B’shit’s hand goes to his back. She rubs it, putting him back to sleep, and her wide eyes track me as I kneel next to my pallet and pack things up. She speaks again, her voice a low whisper. “When was this?”
“We did not resonate,” I say carefully, not looking at them as I roll up my furs. “We are choosing to mate, and we will enlist the healer to aid us with creating a kit.”
“You are forcing resonance?” A’tam asks, his hand sliding to his own mate’s hip, touching her.
I shrug. Forcing is one way to look at it. Choosing is another. But A’tam is difficult to argue with because once he has his mind set upon a particular path, it is hard to pull him from it. And I do not wish to spend all night here arguing with A’tam. I want to return to D’see.
“And she chose O’jek?” A’tam sounds shocked. “To father her kits?”
“Who else is left?” I’rec retorts.
I clench my jaw.
“R’jaal?”
“Oh my god, be nice,” B’shit hisses, lightly smacking A’tam on the shoulder. “There is nothing wrong with O’jek! I’m happy for the two of you.”
“There is nothing wrong with O’jek,” A’tam agrees. “But there is nothing right, either. He is not the best at anything. He is not a leader. His cock is not even the largest.”
“Maybe he knows how to use it better than you do, you clown,” B’shit tells him.
The look A’tam gives her is sultry, and he grins, running his hand down her thigh. “You were not complaining last night.”
B’shit looks as if she’s biting back a grin, but she runs a hand over A’bri’s small back. “Hush. You’ll wake the baby.”
“Also something you said last night,” A’tam replies with a smirk.
“Ugh. You’re impossible.” She shakes her head. “My khui chose poorly when it comes to you.”
I’rec just rolls his eyes at the two of them. B’shit and A’tam are always like this, and I do my best to ignore them as well. They say foolish things to rile each other up and then race to the furs to mate feverishly. They are a strange pair, but A’tam seems happier than he has ever been, so I cannot be too annoyed. Even so, his comments echo in my head. And she chose O’jek? Who else is left?
Maybe D’see feels as if she is out of options, too. I hesitate for a moment, uncertainty making me pause in the gathering of my things.
“Bah,” says I’rec. “Do not give O’jek a hard time about choosing to mate a beautiful female that wants him. He is a good, steadfast hunter. He is loyal and devoted. He will make D’see a fine mate, because she needs someone to take care of her.”
I sit back on my heels, surprised at I’rec’s defense. I know my choice suits his needs, but it is still good to hear how my brother thinks of me. And yet he thinks I am going to be catering to D’see, and that she will now be Shadow Cat’s problem more than ever. “D’see and I have made a deal,” I tell them. “I told her I would become her mate but only if she becomes a true member of the tribe. I told her she must learn to hunt and fish and to skin and make fire. When I am satisfied, then we will ask the healer to make a kit for us.”